A post-80s college graduate grows succulents and finds his way to prosperity
On August 19, the sun blazed fiercely.
Located on the north side of Jurong Chishan Lake Wetland Park, the Jurong Jinhong Family Farm had been under formal construction for only one year as of that day, yet the farm's total sales for 2016 are expected to exceed 10 million yuan.
What surprised this reporter is that the founder of this family farm, Tao Dafei, is actually a college graduate entrepreneur born in 1981, and a "rising star" among the college graduate entrepreneurs that have emerged in Jurong in recent years.
Tao Dafei is a Jurong local. He graduated from Nanjing Agricultural University in 2002 with a major in tourism management, and after graduation worked for a time in the hotel management industry. But the dream of starting his own business never faded in his heart. In May 2006 he returned to Jurong to start a business, engaging in the delivery of agricultural and sideline products. After several years of hard knocks, he found that although Jurong's market had many agricultural projects, very few could turn a profit quickly and steadily. After some market research, Tao Dafei focused his attention on the succulent plant market, where he discovered enormous business opportunities.
Without delay, Tao Dafei transferred more than 200 mu of land on the north side of Chishan Lake Wetland Park, and on July 16, 2015, formally began construction of the Jurong Jinhong Family Farm.
Walking into the farm, the first thing that greets the eye is a large expanse of white greenhouses, covering about 30 mu, a magnificent sight. When this reporter first met Tao Dafei, the impression he gave was that although his skin had turned dark from wind and sun, he exuded steadiness and capability in every way.
Outside, the sun scorches; inside the greenhouses, it is extremely hot and stuffy. Yet seeing the neatly arranged pots of succulents, with their peculiar shapes and rich colors, some adorably cute, some sturdy and stout, is a real eye-opener. At present, the farm has more than 100 varieties of succulents. Not only that, the farm also grows nursery stock such as crape myrtle and crabapple, and additionally has vegetable plots and a tea garden, while more than 20 mu of water surface provides even better conditions for further enriching the farm's agricultural offerings.
Agriculture requires large investment, yields slow returns and carries high risk. This is a major characteristic of agricultural development and also a major difficulty, and the most crucial thing is to solve the sales problem well. The Jinhong Family Farm, by building an e-commerce platform, set up a shop called "Momo Succulent Horticulture" on Taobao to expand online sales channels. Tao Dafei told this reporter that more than 90% of the succulents are sold online. Because great importance is placed on reputation in the sales process, the shop set up on Taobao can rank in the top ten among the many similar shops. Good reputation has greatly boosted sales, and on the best day sales can reach more than 70,000 yuan.
The development of e-commerce has provided new channels for product sales. To further support and promote better development of e-commerce, departments including the Jurong Human Resources and Social Security Bureau will hold the first Jiangsu Jurong "Innovating and Moving Rongcheng" e-commerce entrepreneurship competition this year, and registration is about to close. Zhang Yonghua, deputy director of the Jurong Labor and Employment Management Center, told this reporter that registration is going well, with more than 100 projects signed up for the competition, and the Jinhong Family Farm is one of them. Zhang Yonghua introduced that the winning projects will receive entrepreneurship subsidies and awards as well as support in funding and venues. At the same time, regarding the Jinhong Family Farm's relatively large demand for labor, especially its shortage of art design and operations talent, Zhang Yonghua said that the advantages and resource platforms of the human resources and social security departments will be fully utilized to give active support. He said that the Jinhong Family Farm not only absorbs surplus labor from nearby areas, but also specifically addresses the employment problem of veterans, and at the same time recruits college graduates for targeted professional training, contributing to Jurong's employment work, and the human resources and social security departments ought to do their part for the farm's development.
Speaking of future development, Tao Dafei has his own vision: the Jinhong Family Farm will take succulents as its theme, integrate a variety of leisure experience offerings, and combine them with the operation of an e-commerce platform to develop into a theme park combining succulent cultivation, display and sales with agricultural sightseeing, leisure, experiences and vacationing, echoing the Chishan Lake Wetland Park and becoming a uniquely distinctive highlight project on the outskirts of Jurong.